jjohnson3803

I'm not an imager, so this is just a short time exposure with my iPhone.  It was taken last summer while camping in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  I grew up there, but hadn't been back for probably 15 years and only rarely before that.  It's not spectacular, but it reminds me of how dark the skies were when I was young with my 60mm Tasco / Sears refractor  If I had grown up in the light pollution garbage where I live now near Chicago, I doubt I would have developed any interest in astronomy.

Lyra, Hercules, and the head of Draco  are nicely visible as well as a small, sporadic meteor on the left edge of frame.  I also saw a spectacular fireball that night.

Interesting ideas...

My painting / drawing talents are basically nil, but I'd like to sketch some open clusters now and then.  Easy, right?  Just dots.  LOL.

What's a good technique for drawing different magnitude stars?  Small dots and then enlarge brighter stars with the same pencil?  Use a sharp pencil to mark positions then a thick one?  Or would white markers on black paper be better?  (But then I'd have the same question - fat markers, thin markers, or ???)

I have a very well stocked artists' supply store near my home, but the variety of items can be overwhelming.

Thanks!

I recently bought an Astronomics AT72ED which looks very similar except for paint color(s).  They don't supply optical test results, but I'm loving the thing so far.  It's so portable that I fear my 102ED might be destined for the classified ads.  😉

And BTW, those blue setting circles are quite stylish!  Seriously.

I use a children's plastic top table with folding metal legs.  It's about 2-ft X 2-ft.

But I also have some old folding wooden TV tray tables that I could bore some holes in.  Hmmmmm...  could be a weekend project...

Flashing here is thin aluminum sheet that's used as a water barrier around chimneys, etc.  It usually comes in rolls since roofers can use a fair amount when doing a roof.

Maybe you could use a short piece of round furnace ductwork?  

Ahhh, Scenic Waukesha!  (We camp at Ottawa Lake - reasonably dark sky for this part of the Midwest.)

December and January weather was absolute dreck here in Chicago too, so this past weekend was a fantastic change.  Hopefully we've paid our dues and will have some decent skies now.

On 07/02/2023 at 12:38, Stu said:

With Observer Pro on iOS you can map out accurately your horizon and then import it to SkySafari. Works very well. There’s a guide on how to do this somewhere on the forum written by @AdeKing. I’ll try to find it.

Wow, that's quite impressive.  I'll have to try that.  Until now, I've just taken notes on altitudes and azimuths of obstructions.  (There's a larch that really needs to get hit by lightning...)

Since I'm across the Pond, I obviously could not partake, but that sounds like a great idea.  There's an RC aircraft park not far from me, but it closes at dusk and it's hardly a dark site.  It does have unobstructed horizons though...

I hope it works out for you.

2 hours ago, EarthLife said:

I think air born explosions cause a larger area of devastation, it's why atom bombs are designed to go off at a certain height rather than allowed to hit the ground I think.

I vaguely recall a journal article comparing the effects of a high yield ground vs airburst that mentioned that.  

I've been in the buy it / try it / sell it cycle for the last couple of years.  My most recent acquisition is a 72mm ED refractor that has surprisingly sated my appetite, at least for now.  But most of my astro kit has been purchased with gift money from birthdays and such or proceeds from selling off other gear.

As my wife and I approach (semi-) retirement, I'm moving into the "Well, what do I *really* need?" mindset.  Doesn't mean I won't throw disposable income at my other hobbies though.  😁

FLO ships items to me via DHL and I've had good luck / service, but I've never ordered anything super-expensive.  UPS has gotten a lot of bad reviews, at least in the US.

I started compiling some lists from different sources, but I'm lazy so I've been using the object lists in the "Bright Star Atlas" for my small refractors.  Probably not the best of the best lists, but plenty of objects to try.

I don't have a zoom, but I usually rotate among a widefield 15mm, 10mm, and 6mm with most of my scopes.  I am trying to figure out what to buy for a single, dedicated EP for my little 50/250 ultimate grab-n-go refractor - maybe a widefield 8mm.

I use craft foam sheets for dew shields and other things.  Roll into a cylinder and hold sides together with duck tape.  I imagine there's a UK equivalent available.

Foam sheets

Here in northeastern Illinois, I think there have been two partly clear nights since December 3.  There have been a few more where the sky was covered with high cirrus making the moon for example look like it was swathed in cotton gauze.  My home naked eye limiting magnitude is about 3.5, maybe 4 if I'm lucky, but I couldn't even see Polaris through the high schmutz the other morning...

I've used plastic prescription bottles from the pharmacy / chemist as EP "cases" when I've lost caps.  They're also good for shipping EPs if / when you sell any.

If you go with binos, there are at least three good bino observing guides - Moore's, Sironik's, and Harrington's.  Although I mainly observe with a telescope, I like bino books because I live in heavy light pollution and they give more realistic expectations of what I can see from home.

I'd also suggest looking into buying a tripod or monopod no matter the size of any binos you might get.  A lot of people have trouble holding binos steady and a mono- / tripod can make a great deal of difference.

Enjoy!

Hadn't really noticed it until I ran an across an observing article that mentioned it.  The article was in either SkyTel or S@N awhile ago.

I don't do photography, but I have the US / Astronomics version of the 102ED.  Visually, it's a really nice scope - very crisp lunar views for example - and well made, but it's heavy / bulky, about the same weight / size as my ST120 achro.

The 102 does not ride well on my AZ5 or my ScopeTech Zero with my carbon fiber tripod (RT90C) IMO and for that reason, I'm probably going to sell it rather than buy a new / heavier mount.  I also tried it on my medium-duty Explore Scientific tripod (1.75-in steel legs) with the same results.  YMMV.

2022:

• 2022 was spent trying out different combinations of scopes / mounts / tripods and a small amount of cellphone astrophotography. 
• I did get a fair number of open cluster and lunar observations in - too much light pollution here for most faint fuzzies. 
• Caught a huge fireball while camping at a dark site 300 miles from home.
• I did not make it out to either of my club's dark sites at all.
• Caught the recent lunar eclipse but the Mars occultation was clouded out.

2023:

• My new 72mm ED refractor has been sitting almost completely idle since I got it in early December due to garbage weather.  I want to get that thing fired up and see what it can do on the moon and some double stars.
• I'm still pondering selling my ST120 and my 102ED - maybe this year.
• I want to get out to my club dark sites at least once a quarter and go camping with a scope at least 4 times over the season.
• I want to start observing two or three long term variables regularly like R Leo and Chi Cyg and maybe start a double star program.

On 01/01/2023 at 03:37, michael8554 said:

In the UK lasers are frowned upon because of the danger to air traffic, which we have a lot of, so more than1mW is illegal to sell.

Check out the  rules for SA.

Michael

Way too much air traffic near / over me to get a laser.  The Federales take an extremely dim view of lighting up cockpits, even by accident.  YMMV.

Not sure if this was mentioned, but some of the table Dobs can be mounted on a tripod if you ever want to go that way.  Also, some people have written about boring shallow holes in a wooden barstool seat for the Dob feet and putting the Dob on that.  Quite a clever idea IMO.

I'm nearsighted with astigmatism, so I usually wear my glasses when observing.  For me, I think about 10mm is the lower limit on eye relief.  I do observe occasionally without them, but the difference is quite noticeable.

I have several refractors, but I'm thinking about getting a 90mm and maybe selling a couple of the bigger ones.  I'm slowly coming to the belief that a 90mm is probably a "Goldilocks refractor "  for me right now.

Enjoy!

BTW, I got a new 72mm around the first of December - it's been 100% overcast almost the entire time since.  🙄